{"id":821399,"date":"2025-01-20T10:12:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T16:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/20\/what-getting-105-blood-tests-from-a-health-startup-taught-me\/"},"modified":"2025-01-20T10:12:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T16:12:40","slug":"what-getting-105-blood-tests-from-a-health-startup-taught-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/20\/what-getting-105-blood-tests-from-a-health-startup-taught-me\/","title":{"rendered":"What Getting 105 Blood Tests From a Health Startup Taught Me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

T<\/span>he last time I went to the doctor, I lived in a different zip code, belonged to a different body-weight category, and was rounding out a different decade. I never consciously swore off health care, but who likes feeling dismissed<\/a>\u2014or consistently being told that the next available appointment is months down the road<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Yet after years of not stepping foot in an exam room, I knew I needed a check-up\u2014make that a tune<\/em>-up. That\u2019s how I ended up in a phlebotomist\u2019s chair at Quest Diagnostics at 7 a.m. on a recent Saturday, looking hard in the other direction to avoid seeing what felt like an excessive amount of blood pumping out of my arm. I had just joined Function Health<\/a>, a personalized health testing platform co-founded by the preventive medicine guru Dr. Mark Hyman, and those dozen tiny vials would provide me with in-depth intel on more than 100 measures. I would soon receive a full assessment of my heart, hormones, thyroid, immunity, and seemingly every other aspect of my health. Was I nervous? Absolutely. Impatient for the results? You know it.<\/p>\n

Function Health\u2014which launched in 2023 and bills itself<\/a> as the fastest-growing health platform in the U.S.\u2014is backed by big-name investors like Matt Damon, Zac Efron, Pedro Pascal, Jay Shetty, and Blake Griffin. The company is still in beta mode, which means you have to sign up for its waitlist; I was accepted within a day. For $499 per year, you get two rounds of testing: an initial assessment with 105 lab tests, and then three to six months later, a follow-up including 60-plus retests to see how your numbers are changing. By then, the Function team believes, you\u2019ll have had the opportunity to make changes through diet, exercise, or a new medication regimen, and you\u2019ll be able to see how those efforts are paying off. The hope is that people will remain members for years, tracking how their health evolves through twice-annual testing, and making changes that could add more quality years to their lives. While no treatment regimen is provided based on results, clients receive personalized written insights from Function\u2019s team of clinicians.<\/p>\n

For someone like me, who ignored annual-physical reminders and waited out even the most annoying symptoms, it seemed like an ideal way to get a much-needed health status update. But is putting patients in the driver\u2019s seat of their own well-being the future of health care\u2014or a slippery slope to information overload?<\/p>\n

A pivot to proactive care<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hyman, 65, has spent his entire career trying to find a way to \u201cbreak through the noise and really address chronic disease, which is now a national emergency,\u201d he told me during a video conversation in September. He specializes in functional medicine, which aims to identify and treat the root cause of illness\u2014not just the symptoms it triggers. In addition to being Function\u2019s chief medical officer, he\u2019s the founder of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, founder and director of The UltraWellness Center<\/a> in Lenox, Mass., the author of a pile of books<\/a>, and the host of a popular podcast<\/a>. He regularly dispenses health tips to his 3 million Instagram followers: which inflammatory oils he avoids; how to think about brain-health supplements; what to know about the six states of insulin resistance.<\/p>\n

He calls Function Health his most fulfilling venture. Hyman sees the startup as a natural extension of his desire to make medicine more proactive, pointing to a philosophy called P4 medicine<\/a>, which stands for predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory. The idea is to help people take control of their health by identifying what areas they need to work on before they land in a full-blown medical crisis. \u201cThe only way to do that is to have your own data, and not be limited by what you get at your doctor\u2019s,\u201d he says. \u201cHow do we break down the sort of patriarchal, paternalistic medical system that puts you apart from your own body? You have to go to the doctor and the insurance companies and ask for what you want, and they\u2019re trained in a certain way which is essentially reactive, not proactive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: When Should I Go to the Doctor With Cold Symptoms?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Function Health\u2019s tests go beyond what many primary care doctors include in \u201coutdated\u201d annual panels, he adds. While doctors traditionally check LDL, HDL, and total cholesterol, for example, they don\u2019t always include measures like lipoprotein(a), apolipoprotein B, and LDL pattern, all of which can predict future heart health. And while it\u2019s common to find out your calcium and vitamin D levels, I\u2019d never before had a doctor check my ferritin<\/a> or iron binding capacity<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The thinking is that the earlier you realize something isn’t quite right, the sooner you can address it. Plus, Function\u2019s platform is easy to navigate and visually pleasing\u2014a welcome change from the poorly designed patient portals I was used to. That enables clients to track trends over time and compare their results from one round of testing to the next. Is their hemoglobin A1C gradually creeping up? Is their LDL cholesterol better or worse than it was six months or two years ago? Is that random kidney number still out of range, or was it a one-off blip?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very good at naming and blaming diseases,\u201d Hyman says. \u201cWe’re not very good at identifying proactively, what is the transition from wellness to illness? Most people are just walking around with low, smoldering risk factors that they don\u2019t know about.\u201d He paused, meeting my eyes through the screen: \u201cLike you, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/picture>
A sample dashboard for Function Health users<\/span>Function Health<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My unexpected results<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My first round of testing required nearly two dozen vials of blood, which could wipe you out for the day\u2014so Function splits it into two separate appointments scheduled a week apart. On my second visit, the phlebotomist noticed I was starting to look pale and assured me fewer vials would be taken than the first time. When I left, fainting risk averted, she admitted she had lied. Still, by the time my results started rolling in a few days later, I had forgotten all about my sore arm. They arrived over the course of a week, during which I refreshed my Function Health portal constantly. Each time a measure was off, I dramatically declared that I was dying, and then proceeded to Google every possible explanation, working myself into a stupor.<\/p>\n

During our interview, Hyman and I talked through my test results, which calmed my anxiety. (This one-on-one time isn\u2019t customary for Function\u2019s members, who typically receive insights without any one clinician\u2019s name attached.) In total, 20 of my biomarkers were out of range, and 85 were normal. I learned, for example, that my thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) were above range\u2014\u201clow-grade Hashimoto\u2019s,\u201d Hyman speculated after reviewing my results\u2014and that I had ketones and \u201cmany\u201d calcium oxalate crystals in my urine. Two liver metrics, alanine transaminase and gamma-glutamyl transferase, were elevated. If he were my doctor, \u201cI would say, \u2018Oh, your liver tests are elevated\u2014why is that?\u2019\u201d Hyman told me. \u201cI would ask you a bunch of questions, like \u2018Do you drink a lot?\u2019\u201d I don\u2019t\u2014but until recently, I would pop a Tylenol any time I felt even the slightest twinge of a headache setting in, which happened almost every day. Taking too much acetaminophen, Hyman cautioned me, is the most common cause<\/a> of acute liver failure in the U.S. He appeared pleased that I had gone cold turkey after receiving my results, and I was relieved that I had found out I needed to make a change. (For what it\u2019s worth, this probably wouldn\u2019t have registered on a primary care provider\u2019s annual blood panel, and there\u2019s no way I would have brought up my Tylenol habit unprompted.)<\/p>\n

Perhaps most alarmingly, 11 of my 15 heart biomarkers were out of range, suggesting systemic inflammation and an elevated risk of heart events. I wasn\u2019t entirely surprised: High cholesterol runs in my family, and when I was 3, my parents took me to a big-city children’s hospital, where a pediatric cardiologist recommended I start statins. My parents, concerned about my young age, decided not to opt for treatment, and throughout my adult life, I\u2019ve hoped my plant-based diet and exercise routine would shield me from the genetic threat.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: 9 Weird Symptoms Cardiologists Say You Should Never Ignore<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Yet the situation was worse than I expected. My total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and lipoprotein(a) were all out of range. My LDL particle number\u2014a new-to-me term that measures the number of particles carrying LDL cholesterol\u2014turned out to be 2,181, which concerned Hyman. \u201cYou want it to be under 1,000,\u201d he told me. All my heart numbers, taken together, indicated to him that I needed follow-up testing, like an AI-enhanced CT coronary scan to check for plaque. I immediately started searching for a cardiologist after doing a deep dive on all the ways a heart attack or stroke might manifest in a relatively young woman.<\/p>\n

One of the less-conventional health metrics I learned was my biological age. Inside, I\u2019m 28.5, which is almost 9 years younger than my actual age of 37. This metric indicates the quality and rate of how you\u2019re aging on a genetic, cellular, and molecular level, Hyman says. Faster biological aging\u2014being older than your chronological age\u2014increases the risk of problems like prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and hormonal imbalances. While almost every company selling these tests calculates biological age based on a different methodology, Function relies on Phenotypic Age<\/a>, which is an assessment of biomarkers such as albumin, creatinine, glucose, and mean cell volume.<\/p>\n

\n

More in Health<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

I asked Hyman if I should be disappointed about my biological age: Wouldn’t it have been better to get a number, say, 15 years younger? \u201cNo, no,\u201d he told me\u2014though I soon learned that, while he\u2019s 65, his biological age is 39. (\u201cI\u2019m almost as young as you,\u201d he joked.) He assured me that while you can\u2019t change your calendar age, you can reverse your biological age by, for example, prioritizing a healthy diet, being more active, losing weight, getting enough sleep, and lowering your cholesterol. I\u2019ll have mine retested in six months\u2014and during that time, I hope to get reacquainted with my early 20s, which I thought I had left in the dust.<\/p>\n

All of these lab results were accompanied by eight pages of personalized clinician notes; if results are urgent, the company says it calls you immediately. The feedback is dense and actionable: I learned more about what each out-of-range metric meant, and what kind of steps I could take to correct it, like limiting or prioritizing certain foods, taking supplements, and practicing self-care. The calcium oxalate crystals in my urine, for example, suggested a predisposition toward kidney stones, so Function\u2019s clinicians suggested mitigating risk through dietary changes and increased fluid intake. And because my high-sensitivity C-reactive protein\u2014a marker of inflammation\u2014was high, I received a list of dozens of potentially beneficial foods to prioritize (non-starchy vegetables, organic soy), as well as advice on which to limit (refined sugars and dairy).<\/p>\n

There were also, of course, abundant suggestions to follow-up with my primary care provider\u2014which put me right back in the doctor-less pickle where I had begun.<\/p>\n

The future of health care, or information overload?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My Function Health tests armed me with information\u2014but I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with it. Would primary care doctors and specialists even be interested in reviewing my results? Or would they be annoyed I had taken testing into my own hands (and that they had eight pages of data to wade through)?<\/p>\n

Function Health doesn\u2019t yet have an app, which means the easiest way to share results with a doctor is to take screenshots on your phone or print out the relevant sections. Dr. Richard Bruno, regent-at-large with the American College of Preventive Medicine, is used to patients bringing in information for him to review, like Quest blood tests they ordered on their own\u2014but he\u2019s not sure it’s necessary. \u201cI do have patients who [do similar testing], and they come to me with pages-thick labs and want me to interpret it for them,\u201d he says. \u201cLike, \u2018Dr. Bruno, what does this mean? It looks like I have kidney function problems.\u2019\u201d That might lead to a conversation about how much value to assign to a slightly out-of-whack sodium level: \u201cMaybe it was because you did a heavy workout this week,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019ll probably normalize, because kidneys are very good at normalizing electrolytes.\u201d Sometimes, he\u2019ll run follow-up labs\u2014but notes that pursuing all incidental findings can end up being emotionally and financially taxing for patients.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills: U.S. Health Care Is Causing Patient Burnout<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Still, if you decide to follow through with your own testing, Bruno recommends keeping your provider in the loop\u2014which can also help cut back on Dr. Google-induced anxiety. \u201cBringing it back to somebody you trust is critical,\u201d he says. \u201cI may chuckle a little if somebody brings me a stack of labs, but I will take the time to help them understand and navigate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Baljash Cheema, an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and medical director at the university’s Human Longevity Lab<\/a>, isn\u2019t convinced Function Health is worth the financial, psychological, and serological investment. He estimates that at least half of the company\u2019s biometrics are related to basic labs he runs all the time. \u201cI don\u2019t know how novel this is,\u201d he says. Plus, he points out that some biomarkers might be too esoteric for all doctors to grasp. \u201cI have to tell you that I don’t know what it means to have your basophil count change from month to month,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if anybody does.\u201d (In case you were wondering: basophils<\/a> account for about 1% of white blood cells and play a role in the body\u2019s immune response. Mine were normal.) \u201cI\u2019m just not sure that small changes in your potassium<\/a> or chloride<\/a> or your lipase<\/a> or your amylase<\/a> have true meaning for your health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Cheema notes that he agrees with the company\u2019s big-picture goal. \u201cWe\u2019re backwards in the way that we approach health care\u2014we wait for disease to show up,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I think there is very much a role for preventive screening and getting on top of these things before they cause disease.\u201d Looking forward, he believes doctors will start screening for metrics that give people a better understanding of their longevity, though more work is required to determine exactly what those are, why they matter, whether it\u2019s possible to improve them, and if so, how to do it. \u201cI do think this field is ripe for innovation and really could help people live healthier, longer, better lives,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I’m not sure that anything this company is doing right now is doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new sense of empowerment<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Within the span of a couple weeks, I went from knowing nothing about my health to having more data than I knew I contained. Rabbit holes aside, I felt more invested in my well-being than I had in ages\u2014and motivated to find a care team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hyman considers that a victory. \u201cI’m only one guy, so I can only see so many patients,\u201d he says. \u201cI want this to scale up to millions of people.\u201d In the future, he hopes, Function will add even more biomarkers and more depth to its clinician insights. He anticipates steadily increasing demand. \u201cWe haven\u2019t done a lot of marketing, and we have 100,000 [paying members],\u201d he says. \u201cSo there\u2019s a huge, pent-up need for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s in a hurry to start delivering on the largest possible level. Ultimately, he sees Function as a \u201chub for everyone\u2019s health,\u201d and believes any adult could benefit. \u201cI\u2019m not getting any younger,\u201d he says, before catching his own mistake\u2014because, mind you, his biological age continues to drop. Maybe he is, he concedes. \u201cBut I really want to see a shift in this chronic disease epidemic and empower people with their own data, and get this future of medicine here now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Angela Haupt
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last time I went to the doctor, I lived in a different zip code, belonged to a different body-weight category, and was rounding out a different decade. I never consciously swore off health care, but who likes feeling dismissed\u2014or consistently being told that the next available appointment is months down the road? Yet after<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":821400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,2370],"tags":[8060,5587],"class_list":{"0":"post-821399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blood","8":"category-getting","9":"tag-blood","10":"tag-getting"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}